Quit Your Terrible Job Now! 7 Tips for Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs
“Find something you love to do so much that you’d do it for free and find a way to make it into a career.” — Anonymous
I don’t know who came up with that quote, but it changed my life. You see, I’ve always been an ambitious person, but the only thing I knew for sure was what I DIDN’T want to do. I didn’t want to be a corporate wage slave doing a job I didn’t like, for bosses I didn’t respect — so I could retire and start doing things that I wanted to do in 40 years.
I am John's Wasted Life.
Besides, I was utterly unsuited to scale the corporate ladder. I hate wearing suits, I’ve got an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide, and I have an almost pathological inability to pay attention to useless tasks. That’s probably why I used to regularly fall asleep in meetings, even when I was sitting next to my boss (yes, really).
Then there was the big three-day-long shindig at work where all the managers got together off-site to have a corporate trainer do utterly pointless exercises that had almost nothing to do with what we did day in and day out. At the end of the session, the trainer went person to person and asked us to tell everybody what we thought about the training. Every last person talked about it like it was the single most wonderful experience of his life….except me. I told the truth, which was that it wasn’t very useful and we’d have probably been better off back in the office working. I actually got dinged for that months later in a performance review.
But, if I had to give you one story that sums up the corporate experience for me, it would be from a job I had earlier in my career. I was a peon hoping to make assistant manager and I came up with an innovative plan to make an extra $10,000 a year for the company. I jotted it down, handed it to my boss, it was implemented, and the firm made a lot of money. Later, after he passed me over for a promotion, he told me he was completely unimpressed with what I came up with because it was written in pencil.
On top of all that and perhaps most significantly, work just wasn’t “fun” for me. Of course, most people reading this are probably thinking, “Oh, so work wasn’t fun for you? Well, join the club, jackass. Work’s not fun for me either!” This is where I probably part with much of humanity because I viewed this as a problem. My thinking was that if I am going to spend 1/3 of my life for forty years engaged in an activity, I should enjoy it. Sure, this isn’t the way it works for most people, but I never bought the idea that I had to be “most people.”
So, I started thinking about what I like to do. Writing was at the top of the list and the Internet was just starting to take off. Unfortunately, there was very little evidence that anyone could make it as a professional political blogger when I created Right Wing News in 2001. Back then, to the best of my knowledge, Andrew Sullivan was the only political blogger making a living at it and he was already well known before he became a blogger. Meanwhile, ad sales were in a freefall. You see, the Internet was a very new market and when the economy took a downturn, the first thing people cut from their budgets was advertising on the web. Worse yet, the advertising model at that time was based on paying websites a set cost per thousand impressions; so when the market collapsed, it completely decimated the 
entire industry. There were stories floating around about ad networks stiffing websites on five and even six figure checks as they went out of business.
Still, that’s what I wanted to do and although I couldn’t figure out exactly how I would make it work, I essentially was an advocate of the Underpants Gnome philosophy of business — Step 1: Get visitors to my website. Step 2: ????????? Step 3: Profit!
There’s only so many niches for work activities that are inherently “fun”. While I don’t begrudge your success, if everybody who did political blogging and was good at it tried to make a living out of it, the market wouldn’t be big enough to support very many of them.
I do political blogging, and I work very hard at it. While I’m happy when anybody contributes to our tip jar, I don’t expect to make a living at it. The reason is that I want our blog to push the envelope with regard to acceptable topics for debate, and to make statements that other bloggers would be afraid to make. In other words, it’s a lot more important for us to put out our message than it is to “monetize” the blog.
Tip 8: Pick an industry or market segment that is totally unregulated, like software development in the early 90′s, or . . . blogging in the early 00′s.
Tip 9: Conventional wisdom isn’t. Don’t raise a lot of money, because as long as you have OPM in your bank account, you’ll think you are successful and you’ll keep on doing whatever it is you’re doing without really knowing if it’s working or not. Like governments everywhere. Instead, start on a shoestring; stare defeat in the face every day; run scared, so you’ll run longer and sleep less. You won’t be successful until you find actual customers who will pay money for your product. If you keep your expenses pared to the bone, you won’t need many customers as you learn to tailor your product to their wants and needs.
Tip 10: Remember that you don’t need to be rich to be happy.
Here’s Tip #10 – Be aware that the political envioronmemt has a direct impact upon your business, virtually any business. Don’t be one of those who says that you have no interest in politics. I didn’t have much interest in politics until I realized that what occurs in Washington can make or break my business in short order. If you saw a real possibility in 2007 of Obama’s election and planned accordingly for the likely disaster that it has become you may well have dodged the bullet.
The way things are going in the economy right now, I think the only people who are going to make money in the next few years are going to be gun shop owners and manufacturers of guns and ammunition. If society in America starts to collapse like it did during the London riots, you can bet it’s going to get a lot nastier here in the United States. It will probably be as bad as the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, only this time spread out in major cities around the country. If that happens, the only people making money will be gun shops and manufacturers of guns and ammunition. Oh yes, and maybe grocery stores, because food will be as valuable, maybe even more valuable, than our currency. Not a bright pictures, is it. Well, neither is our economy if we keep going down this progressive road to self-destruction.
This is great. Having quit my job working for a bipolar maniac years ago, and starting my own business(es) I think it’s spot on, especially the tips at the end.
I appreciate this a lot because in working for success in the 60 hour work weeks, I’ve gotten a bit burned out and I recently realized it’s because I’ve stopped doing what I loved and started doing what seemed to be necessary for me to be working on to keep the businesses afloat and I’ve started to listen to too many of the outside voices telling me what I need to do.
In taking that advice, I’ve become less productive as I enjoy things less and less. I’ve let myself get overwhelmed with the drudgery and have been attacking tasks in a more manual way which has slowed me and my business down.
With the power outages thanks to Irene, I had a lot of time away from the computer to do some reading and a lot of thinking about what’s been going wrong. Lack of automation of important tasks was high on the list. Also, the realization that I haven’t been enjoying myself and I’ve gotten to be the world’s busiest administrative assistant in my own business which has kept me from doing the things that I love and that I’m really good at.
So I’ll be seeking some administrative help and focusing on what I’m actually good at again.
Thanks for the sanity check, reminders, and kick in the pants!
What? A job opening? Where? Where?
That whole “administrative assistant” thing is what keeps many people away from being their own boss in the first place, especially if they are in a highly regulated industry. I wish these fools who create the rules & regs had to work in the field for a few weeks so they could see what job-killers they’ve created.
I suggest you get Tim Ferriss’ book, “4 Hour Work Week”. He lays out a *lot* of good strategies that will help you focus on what you love and still have a good business going. I’ve used the knowledge in the book extensively and been handsomely rewarded from it.
Thanks for the tip. I’lll pick up a copy of that soon.
Well, finally, a “conservative” blogger who actually does that free-market thing himself. And what the difference does that make.
One however cannot fail to notice that the most entrepreneurial lot in US lives in Silicon Valley, and they are not exactly a Republican stronghold. Something wrong with your system (and ours, actually) if you have races between the trade unions party and the socially conservative party, leaving the most dynamic and hard-working part of the population absolutely unrepresented.
I disagree that the most entrepreneurial lot lives in Silicon Valley. They’re just the ones that make the news. Since agriculture tends to lead the self-employment statistics, I’d guess that the highest number of small-businessmen live somewhere east of there.
That may not even be true of software or technology. First, Silicon Valley has been growing since the late 40s, when California wasn’t a bastion of leftists (it did not get that way until the late 60s – Governor Ronald Reagan won much applause for bashing the hippies), but a stalwart part of conservative America: the Radiation Laboratories – later known as Lawrence Livermore Labs was where a lot of our nuke and later Star Wars research was done. Ditto Cal Poly. California was (and remains in parts) an important part of our military infrastructure.
Further, many of the companies that end up in Silicon Valley don’t arise there – they go there because that’s where many of the venture capital firms that specialize in tech are. But technology companies are all over the country. I was just at a Microsoft Independent Sales Rep conference with people from Kansas City, Memphis, Detroit and Indianapolis. The South’s economic rise isn’t based on car manufacturing. Hate to tell ya.
In point of fact, many nimble companies are moving out of California precisely because of the leftist economic policies, finding homes in Colorado, Texas and Arizona.
And again, that’s just in tech. There’s a lot more to being an entrepreneur than being in technology. The Ewing Kaufman Foundation (whose mission is to promote and support entrepreneurship) found that Montana and Oklahoma topped the country for startup rates in 2009. http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/despite-recession-us-entrepreneurial-activity-rate-rises-in-2009.aspx
My advise after almost 70 years is similar to the above introduction,always do something you like to do because if you like doing it you usually do it well and if you do it well others will like what you do and want it. About the only other advise I could give is if there is a part of your business you don’t like doing or don’t do it well hire someone that is good to do it or it will drag the good parts down. Don’t let your ego drag you down, if you’re not good at something get someone that is.
After 50 years in my own businesses I can say this for a fact, you’re only a failure if you blame someone else because something doesn’t work. A lot of things don’t work the way you expect them to the trick is to make them work the way they are supposed to.
And remember one other thing, just because you are good at one thing doesn’t mean you are necessarily good, smart or will be automatically good at another. How many people have lost everything because ego got in the way?
I reject the whole idea of “doing what you love.” MOST of the jobs in this world that actually need to be done are arduous, boring, dangerous, or otherwise “not fun.” If everybody, or even a significant minority, of people tried to “do what they love,” there wouldn’t be enough demand in the marketplace to support them at a level of income that they could live on. This just isn’t the way the world is put together. If you manage to succeed by doing what you love, you are very lucky, and your example bears little relevance to the rest of us.
I didn’t say love to do I said like to do, big difference, loving what you do is usually a hobby and as you say doesn’t have much in common with reality for most. If you want to be successful you had better like what you do or it’s a long tough road to hoe and it’s all of your own making.
Unfortunately over the years I’ve found that trying to turn a hobby into a business is a good way to start hating the hobby.
While simple enough in concept, it can be hard to make it fly in practice.
Interesting commentary. Also after 70 years and multiple careers – farmer, engineer, Ph.D Psychologist, musician, luthier, and finally back to farming I can say the thrill is in the remaking of ones self. Taking full responsibility for everything, independence, love of long hours in pursuit of exellence, and finally looking forward to the next new thing. Running out of time before running out of ideas is somewhat an existential problem. I would only add to your rules: Never become over-identified with any part of who you think you are or what you are doing at a given phase. The great resulting virtue being a sense of freedom to create the next phase. Never “arrive”. Family, friends, finances and enjoyment are bonuses along the way. Now get busy before you run out of time. ! PS: dump this and start making your own rules.
I did the self-employment thing back in the 90s. I learned that I like being the owner of my career much more than the owner of a business.
Kindly elaborate.
When the business end of business started taking more time and effort than the “fun” stuff–and keeping me awake at night–I decided it was better for me to become an employee, or at least a freelancer, again. I don’t feel like a failure, and I have no regrets. Right now I have a very amenable employer, a positive work environment, and halfway decent pay. And I’m doing what I love 100% of the time.
One helpful tip I don’t see here is this one: “Marry someone with a steady job & good benefits.”
I see that played out in real life all the time.
Also, i have to disagree with the implication of rule #4 that employed people don’t need a nest egg. They do! If there is one thing that keeps people from not pursuing their dream job it’s not being able to afford to quit the job they have. Live well below your means as much as possible and you can be ready when opportunity knocks, whether you work for yourself or not. Sometimes that great job which can open the door to much better opportunities comes with a lower salary at first, or you may have to move, etc. Be light on your feet.
I think these tips are great for anyone. While I truly don’t think I could be an employee ever again in my life, not everyone has the business acumen or even works in a field where it’s possible to strike out on their own. I think these tips could work for them, too. If you’re really good at what you do, chances are you’ll eventually find a job you can thrive in.
You’re absolutely right about that. My husband has not just been a financial support, but my best cheerleader and career coach.
I have founded or co-founded four start-ups; three were successful (one a home run) and one was a disaster and very costly. The success had a lot to do with my business partners. They were talented, worked hard and we watched each others back. In other words we worked as a team. The disaster was due to my selection of a business partner. He sweet talked at first and made claims about all of his wall street connections. He turned out to be an extractive, greedy person – a New York stereotype if you will. I walked and it cost me a bunch, but I am glad I did. Align yourself with people of integrity and you won’t go wrong.
You guys are too serious.
- Never for a minute think about any job
- Become a communist, no, a community activist
- Talk with a lot of other people who do nothing (community activists)
- Be very arrogant about your not-existing accomplishments
- Convince the other not-workers that you would be perfect for the Senate
- Convince the whole party of not-workers that you would be a great President
- Convince the Nobel prize committee that you will heal the world
- Get your Nobel prize, and the White House
- Keep being very arrogant, never ever drop your chin
- run for re-election after destroying the Country
- enjoy the money
Yes you can !!!
+1
Could not agree with you more. Great tips too. We’ ve been working our tails off for three years trying to make our business go. One tip I would give, find people who believe in your cause and are willing to work to get it done right. To many people just want to take your money and play. We learned the hard way. http://www.thinksubstance.com
All of this sounds great, but there is little detail given as to how you actually do it!
How did he move to the beach and blog for a living? Where did he live and how did he pay for it? Or does he mean he literally slept on the beach? What did he do, take baths in the ocean? How did he pay for basics like food and transportation?
All of these specifics are important! I’ve been out of work 4 years. I’d love to “blog for a living” since I’m on the computer all the time anyway. But there’s a lot of work between having a dream and making that dream a practical reality. I was looking for more specifics here. A follow up to this article would be welcome!
That’s an important point that was only lightly touched on. If you aren’t starting with OPM then you’re starting with your own. And if you don’t have your own, then you’re not starting.
Tip #0, work a steady job whether you hate it or not and live within your means for as long as it takes to assemble a nest egg large enough to support yourself for a year or more.
Yes, I think your Tip #0 is a good one.
I wish they had told me in college that working for a living sucks…
Like Rodney Dangerfield said in “Back to School,” “Don’t go into the real world! It’s too hard! Move home w/your parents instead!”
I used to love articles (books, etc) like this, because they instilled in me such a sense of hope and possibility… I used to fill up whole pages with their homework, thought experiments, lists, etc…
Now they just seem out of touch with reality (the reality that many of us live – obviously not the writer’s reality). And I’m saying this as someone more fortunate than many (I saved from my last gig and have not yet burned through my survival savings…)
I’d be happy to have a job at this point that gave me a steady salary, benefits, the chance to put down roots and plan for a future and the ability to let go of all of the tiny muscles that I no longer even realize that I am clenching… I am sick of being anxious and depressed. It’s been two years since I pulled a regular paycheck.
So, to all of those self-satisfied people who are ‘doing what they love, like, whatever, being their own boss, off of the grind, following their bliss, etc, etc, etc’, I say from the rest of us (who hate what they do, or wish they had something steady to even hate).. “Sentence Redacted” (Wrote what I felt, it felt good to do so, deleted it, because I don’t like ranting at innocent bloggers and others who mean well…
Yep, I was on that same road and glad I found an exit.
I am a high school science teacher and my students hear this from me all the time–to the point where they’re sick of it. I tell them: you’ll likely have to work for 50+ years, do something that you like and that pays enough to cover the lifestyle you want to have. Live frugally when you’re young so you won’t be destitute when you’re old. And most importantly, make your own way in the world because the way things change, the past and current ways of doing business might not be there any more.
Of course, I’m a teacher. Shoulda listened to my own advice.
Mo
I deliberately wrote this in a way that made it a little general because it’s not just about how to become a professional blogger.
Miriam
Running you own show is harrowing sometimes. I’m lucky that I’m single in that respect, because I only have to worry about me and not a family.
Dana @9 – What my wife did. She’s the business maven in the family; I’m the provider of financial stability (also the computer help desk, mover and assembler of furniture, bottle washer, etc.). While I have the fortitude to work for an entreprenuer (and experienced the visionairy, bipolar-manic, and (as I found out later), the “how did you survive working for THAT pirate!?” varieties), I know (from being married to one) it isn’t in my personality.
So a rule #11 – once you figure out you do not have the fortitude and self-confidence to boldly stride into the abyss, you may figure out you have a skill those who do need (see rule #7). Go find some (you want more than one) entrepreneurs and sell them that skill. Which is arguably a form of entrepreurial activity (so much for lacking in fortitude…..).